CACrown ArchivesThe cinema collection
Menu
Research dossier · General Reference

Bosnian Cyrillic

Script

Cross-disciplinary reference desk with index cards, atlas, dictionary and catalogue
General referenceInterpretive dossier study · Crown Archives visual atlas
Record originEnglish Wikipedia
Text licenseCC BY-SA 4.0
Source revisionSep 16, 2026
Entity authorityQ894350
Source-derived summary

Bosnian Cyrillic, also known as Bosančica, is a variant of the Cyrillic alphabet that originated in medieval region of Bosnia. The term was coined at the end of the 19th century by Ćiro Truhelka. It was widely used in modern-day Bosnia and Herzegovina and the bordering areas of modern-day Croatia (southern and middle Dalmatia and Dubrovnik regions).

Its name in Serbo-Croatian is Bosančica and Bosanica the latter of which might be translated as Bosnian script. Some of those who wrote in that script referred to it as the Serbian Script. Neutral scholars call it Western Cyrillic. Serb scholars call it Serbian Script, Serbian Letters, Serbian–Bosnian script, Bosnian–Serb Cyrillic, Serbian Western Cyrillic, Serbian Minuscule, as part of variant of Serbian Cyrillic and deem the term "bosančica" Anti-Serbian Austro-Hungarian propaganda. Croat scholars also call it Croatian script, Croatian–Bosnian script, Bosnian–Croat Cyrillic, harvacko pismo, arvatica. For other names of Bosnian Cyrillic, see below.

The use of Bosančica amongst Bosnian Muslims was replaced by Arebica upon the introduction of Islam in Bosnia Eyalet, first amongst the elite, then amongst the wider public.

Editorial summary

“Bosnian Cyrillic” enters the record as script. Crown Archives preserves that source wording while asking what Bosnian, Cyrillic and Script can confirm, complicate or overturn.

Editorial reviewA dependable orientation record for establishing vocabulary, names and a first evidence trail. The current 178-word lead offers orientation but no explicit four-digit date, so chronology should not be assumed. The selected authority fields contribute no independent date. Its strongest next move is a source search built around Bosnian, Cyrillic and Script.
Editorial analysis

Why this record matters

“Bosnian Cyrillic” is worth following because a concise public description often conceals a longer documentary argument. Here, Bosnian, Cyrillic and Script provides the most credible route into that argument.

Evidence profile

Named sources, stable identifiers and responsible institutions provide the strongest route from overview to verifiable evidence. The source revision retrieved here is dated Sep 16, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q894350. None of the 0 selected statements returned an explicit reference.

Critical limits

Overview language is designed for orientation and should not be treated as a substitute for the evidence cited beneath it. The source lead contains qualifying language; that uncertainty should survive quotation, summary and reuse. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.

How to read it

Use the entry as an orientation point, then follow its citations and revision history. Names, dates and institutional relationships should be checked against the original record.

Best used for
  • Subject orientation
  • Search vocabulary
  • Locating named sources
Verify next

The closest primary source, responsible institution and strongest cited specialist reference.

Three-step research path

  1. Establish the record: confirm the title “Bosnian Cyrillic”, its source revision and the description used here.
  2. Expand the search: follow Bosnian Cyrillic primary sources, Bosnian Cyrillic archive and Bosnian research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
  3. Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.

Questions for further research

  1. Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “Bosnian Cyrillic”?
  2. Which institution is responsible for the underlying evidence?
  3. What terminology or title could unlock a more precise catalogue search?
Subject index

Search terms from this dossier

Source & attribution

This entry incorporates text from Bosnian Cyrillic” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.